Need help decideing on new pc or laptop

[ZLOsiris]

Iam kinda leaning towards a laptop jus for the portableity (these 2 models http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8691695&type=product&id=1198286608353 or http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21488196&searchString=) or a mini tower so i can take it to friends houses to use as a gaming "cube". Dont wanna spend over 600$ , does any 1 have any links for good deals on mini's. Or reconmendation for a laptop. thanks alot

[Detale]

I am going to build my first mini as a kind of media station to connect to my TV and set up a wireless network so I can play my movies from this computer on my TV inside without having to burn a disk. Seems pretty cheap so far I will check and give you the hardware list I have so far

[ZLOsiris]

Yea thats why iam thinking of giving up the laptop jus for that reason, i mean a mini is like a gaming,multimedia staion, and portable...which hooks up to a TV. So i guess the mini is the way to go Jus hating to give up that portablety I already have a unused 160 hd and some older ram and a video card, the ram pc 3200? 5 years old so i think i owuld have to scratch those.. Any else here build a mini or have some good links for a deal or build?

[clocker]

Iam kinda leaning towards a laptop jus for the portableity (these 2 models http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8691695&type=product&id=1198286608353 or http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21488196&searchString=) or a mini tower so i can take it to friends houses to use as a gaming "cube". Dont wanna spend over 600$ , does any 1 have any links for good deals on mini's. Or reconmendation for a laptop. thanks alot

With a budget of $600, a decent laptop is already out of reach, so your options are limited to begin with.

And, unless you already have a lot of spare parts already stockpiled (opticals/harddrives mainly), $600 won't buy much of a "gaming cube" either since you'll be spending over a third of the budget on a vid card alone.

I'd say you're going to have to rethink either the budget or the specs.

[fstrulz]

You could get Dell's Vostro 1400 or 1500 (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1500?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&%7Etab=bundlestab) Laptop (Core 2 Duo 2GB RAM DVD-RW 128MB NVIDIA Graphics Card) for only $599.

[ZLOsiris]

decided on this 1 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8698581&type=product&id=1198888992607 i want to upgrADe the ram to 4 gigs but i cant seem to find any 2 gig sticks they make them? will i have to settle for just 2 ? Has a s video so i can use it for gaming on my tv.

[clocker]

The 32 bit version of Vista installed on that lappy cannot address 4GB of RAM.
If you had 4GB installed the OS could only see @3.2GB, so installing 3GB total would be your best bet.
Newegg sells the memory...here's a candidate to look at. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134513)

[ZLOsiris]

wow thanks for that link looks like a gr8 deal, will i be able to use that stick with another 512 in the slot? Thanks for the heads up on the ram issue i did not know that, thanks again

[clocker]

Your machine already comes with 1GB and, for no particular reason, I'm assuming that's a 1GB stick, not 2 x 512MB.
So you should have 3GB when you add the new stick.

[ZLOsiris]

ty for the help clocker i jus ordered that ram, thanks for the link and the gr8 deal. i posted this other question in the software lobby but no 1 answered maybe u can , I have just bought a laptop that comes with the preinstalled vista premium. Does the toshiba vista/recovery/drivers disk have the option for the 64 bit version of vista on it like the store bought vista does? Also i remember a year ago that people where talking about that there were software issues with using xp/vista in 64 does that still hold true" I want to upgrade to 4g of ram but like u said the 32 can only reconize 3.

[clocker]

I'm not sure but if I had to guess I'd say no, it'll just have the 32 bit version.
I'm currently running 64 bit XP Pro and don't have too many problems but there are a few apps that aren't happy (but fewer than a year ago).

I'll be trying 64 bit Vista soon and expect it'll be just about the same.

[ZLOsiris]

thanks for the info once again, bah how could they not put it on the manuf. disk wtf. Welll i will jus use the new ram see how it works,. if not i guess i will get the 64 bit vista. Thats bunk if they dont include the new 64 with a new purchase. Cmon microsoft, its a robbery if people who have preinstalled vista have to pay more for an upgrade to 64 when its included in the store version.

[clocker]

Cmon microsoft, its a robbery if people who have preinstalled vista have to pay more for an upgrade to 64 when its included in the store version.
Why are you blaming MS?
It would be the OEM's decision not to pay for the full version and save a few bucks.
Besides, it makes their life a lot simpler if they only have to come up with only one set of drivers.

Before you decide to upgrade to 64 bit I'd recommend you find out if the necessary drivers are available for your hardware.
Laptops tend to be extraordinarily proprietary and tracking down the software could be a problem.